In the field of toys, many are familiar with the flowers or dolls which move in one or more ways (such as dancing, shuffling, or other type of movement). The movement can be controlled in any number of ways, such as through the actuation of a button on the toy, through remote control, or in response to a sound such as a voice or a musical tune. In the latter case, the provision of the sound causes the toy to move about from a stationary position, or to be displaced from that position. Typically, such as is the case with the dancing flowers, the sound is picked up by a microphone, located within the apparatus, and passed through an amplifier to create a voltage. The voltage is then used to create movement which causes the flower to move about. Typically, the louder the sound, the greater the voltage and therefore, the greater the movement.
In these and other toys known in the art, a single motor is used which causes motion in a single direction. The motor typically requires an eccentric axle to generate an off-centre force. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,249 to Sakurai, describes an artificial flower with an angularly movable shaft. In order for the toy to move in multiple directions, multiple motors are required to move different movable components, such as to have the toy move back and forth from foot to foot (i.e., as would be required in a toy with dancing motion, for example). U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,353 to Lund et al., describes a toy dog which moves across a surface. The toy has two motors: one to move a set of legs on the left side of the toy, and another motor to move a set of legs on the right side. Other dolls having multiple moving parts are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,668 to Takemae, U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,170 to How, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,238 to Kelley et al. In the absence of multiple motors, it has been difficult to generate separately moveable parts of the toy. This is evident in U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,301 to Lund. Thus, the two motors have been required to generate an off-centre force to create complex movement.
Toys which have a wider range of motion are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 7,115,014 to McGrath discloses a walking toy dog, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,716 to Rehkemper et al. discloses a dancing toy figure doll. Both of these toys are preferably controlled using a remote control device and include a tethering means connected thereto. Toys of this sort are typically more difficult to maneuver in tight spaces, and can be especially difficult for younger users and those with limited manual dexterity.
In addition, toys which move in different directions also require separate features or supports to assist the toy in maintaining its balance when each foot is “reset”, i.e., returned to a resting position on the surface prior to a subsequent movement by it or another leg or foot. However, this causes the toy to become quite expensive to produce. Furthermore, the balancing features or support may be quite sensitive or delicate which results in the toy being more prone to damage.
Furthermore, in order to shorten the time between movements of the toy, the motors need to be sped up which can lead to a tipping of the toy since fixed intervals between motor switching increases motor speed which promotes tipping.
Sound-activated toys are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,353 to Lund et al., discloses a sound activated toy comprising sets of legs which rotate in response to a sound stimulus. This toy requires a pair of motors to cause each set of legs to rotate in opposite directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,491 to Arad discloses a doll having a mechanism which allows displacement of legs frontwardly and a motor connected to a mechanism to drive and displace the legs, arms and head with respect to the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,395 to Oishi et al. discloses a sound-activated animal motion toy having a motor and multiple movable parts. The toy, however, has limited mobility and requires pushing an operating lever to change the rotation of the motor to enable the toy to move in a reverse direction.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a toy with sound-activated motion which only requires a single motor for off-centre movement and automatically moves in alternate directions.